The Faceless
by Skydidas
Summary: A faceless assassin renowned across Kirigakure is quickly becoming known abroad as his skills in the Kirigakure civil war become increasingly prevalent. Will this bring further opportunities for him to take, or will it result in others trying to take him out before he becomes a threat? Set in Kirigakue during the purges. Gray Naruto.


Chapter One

The spray of water droplets splashed from the cracked window into the abandoned house, a puddle forming below as the liquid pooled together. Looking around you could see that the house once held a great splendor to it, the room that we occupy is spacious with archaic furniture, now destroyed or dilapidated, but appearing to have once been ornate and intricately designed. On a long, wooden table in the center of the room, we see an individual laying spread out on their stomach. The long rifle in their hands extending from their shoulder towards the barely open window. Outside, the wind whips the heavy rain across the lands. Through the window we can see directly down a long street lined with large houses and along the road there are inconsistent barriers erected, appearing to have once been made to defend against an unknown foe but having long since been forgotten.

As the rain continues its attack onto the earth, we look back at the individual and see that they do not move from their position, the only inclination that they are still alive is the slight, controlled, rise and fall of their chest as they breath. The figure is male, as can be surmised by his size and the bulk of his body, but the rest of his features are hidden. The individual wears camouflage cargo pants, black being the dominant color with white cloud like patterns spread out over them. The pants are tucked into knee high combat boots that are clearly chosen for the weather outside, water resistant to ensure that the wearer's feet remain dry. His upper body is similarly clothed with a camouflage jacket shielding him from the weather, and an ANBU vest of the color black is in place over the jacket.

The man's face is where we discover who the individual's allegiance belongs to, but not his identity. His lower face and neck are wrapped in bandages, which is the renowned and telltale sign of the Demon of the Hidden Mist, Zabuza Momochi - an individual who is notorious throughout Kirigakure for his insurrection against the Kage of Kiri. Above the wraps the individuals face remains covered by a half-ANBU mask that contains no eye slits and is decorated by four, bold, black diagonal lines. As to how the individual can look through the scope of their rifle is not clear, but it is apparent that there is a method. The hood from his jacket is raised, shielding any more of the individuals features from the world.

Suddenly, the figure's gloved hands tightened and he shifts slightly, gripping the weapon in his hands more firmly. A sound in the individuals ear piece can be heard and listening further reveals that a voice is speaking to the man.

"Target approaching. Five minutes out. Be ready," a woman says, the tone flat and straight to the point. The rifle-bearing individual had heard the same thing times over from the woman, however, having done these types of missions many times with her. The dull, routine saying, let him know that the time was upon him and that his target was approaching the location in which they would soon be felled.

Adrenaline began to course through his blood, his heart rapidly beating. Most would confuse the feelings being experienced with nervousness, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. Excitement was hot in him. The thrill that came with every mission just like this one was pervasive. There was an unexplainable feeling to taking someone's life, and as much as he used to despise the idea of having to do so, the experience had evolved into and enjoyable hunt in which, for an instance, he became a god on the earth, a Shinigami.

Time passed, and soon multiple people could be seen coming into view at the end of the street. Assault rifle bearing men were the first to be seen. Keeping to the sides of the street they eyed each of the houses they passed for movement and kept their weapons in a ready position. A moment later the slow rumbling of vehicles signaled the arrival of the primary target whose armored vehicle drove down the center of the road surrounded by even more assault rifle bearing shinobi. Despite all these defensive measures, however, it would not stop the mission from being completed, and back into the abandoned house where our figure lays on the table he begins to focus his chakra into the weapon he holds. With a sudden spike he sends a focused pulse of chakra towards the enemies that are unaware of the upcoming slaughter that the will face.

The momentary chakra spike needed to fire the shot quickly arouses the notice of the defending shinobi however, and they are quick to raise their own chakra rifles to fire in the direction of the house, causing our shooter to roll off the table and onto the ground in a crouch to avoid the bullets that whizzed through the open window and through the walls above him. As splintering wood showered above him, and the chakra bullets came increasing closer to his position, the returning fire was suddenly cut off by a large blast that erupted from under the vehicle that the soldiers had been guarding. Those that had been surrounding it shouted out in a pain as the blast launched shrapnel from the undercarriage of the transport vehicle into their legs and blew them outwards from the shear force of the explosion.

Seeing their comrades in pain, the shinobi that had for the most part remained unscathed from the explosion resumed firing while some began to use chakra enhanced leaps to quickly encroach onto our attacker's location. Having known that he wouldn't have much time after firing his initial chakra shot, he had quickly pulled out a scroll and sealed his rifle into it while summoning a katana.

Within a few short seconds the incoming chakra rifle fire ceased, and the shinobi jumped through the window into the house to engage their attacker. With kunai drawn two of the shinobi simultaneously attempted to stab the man from different angles, but he avoided the attacks by using unexpected flexibility to jump sideways onto a wall, using chakra to stick to it and sliced one of the shinobi across their stomach, causing them to drop their kunai as they buckled to the ground, slowly dying as their organs began to spill out of them.

Angered by his comrade's injuries, the other attacked with reckless abandon which made it even easier for him to succumb to his fate. Dropping to the floor, our camouflaged antagonist parried an attempted strike with ease and launched a devastating punch which launched his opponent across the room. Immediately leaping after the foe who has yet to recover he stabbed his katana through their heart and watched as life drained away from the felled individual's eyes, leaving them a lifeless blue that would never see the world again.

As more shinobi entered the house, the katana user threw down a flash bomb to disable his other opponents before making for an escape. One of the easiest ways to stay alive in a world of war and assassinations was to know when to make a wise escape and now was just the moment. Leaving another present for the confused shinobi left within the house, quickly went through the house and jumped out of an opening where the walls had begun to crumble. Behind him the explosive note that he had left behind exploded. Although there was little chance that it had killed the shinobi left in the room, it provided plenty of distraction for him to leave the area around the house without any followers for the moment being, and he began to circle around back towards his initial target.

Jumping onto the rooftops for quicker travel, he travelled down the street and towards the disabled transport vehicle. Seeing the dead bodies of several of the guard shinobi that he had not killed, he was pleased that the mission must have been a success and quickly began to travel away from the scenes of battle. Assuredly, reinforcements would be on the way and while he had no doubt in his strength, it would be unwise and foolish to try to take on an entire platoon of reinforcing shinobi.

With one last look around, the masked shinobi began to travel in a western direction to rendezvous outside of the town.

XxXxX

I'm really iffy about this story. Part of me wants to delete it and a part of me wants to completely rewrite it. I'm posting it to see what feedback you guys have for me.

Clarification: Naruto's gun is a chakra pulse gun which sends an explosive chakra shot out of it. The other shinobi just carry chakra rifles which fire shots of chakra in quick succession which are deadly but do not cause as much damage to the environment the bullet hits. Chakra affinities can be infused into the bullets but it's more strenuous on the users body.


End file.
